The No Life Kings
by Shafowforge
Summary: Two years after the end of the Guild War, Michael; a former No Life King, finds his past catching up to him with a chance at redemption in the form of an apprentice. Any reviews/comments would be greatly appreciated.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I forgot to add a disclaimer before, but I do not own monster hunter or any of the various monsters in the games. I also re-wrote the chapter using a different perspective since I really didn't like how the first person was playing out. Read, review, criticize plz and thanks

Nightmares and Realities

Wet leaves brushed against my Basarios armor as I sprinted through the jungle. Even the humid air seemed to slow my steps as my lungs began to burn from the long run but I refused to let something like fatigue slow me now. I gulped down a demon juice and took slight relief as the burning faded from my legs. He couldn't be that far ahead of me now, I'd only been out for a few hours. I broke through the trees to come to an out cropping that overlooked the jungle with a drop off about a hundred feet to the jungle floor. There he was in his ceantaur armour, surrounded by raw meat, gun powder and seven red barrels which I knew were filled with the old man's prototype powder. But any anger I felt towards the old man faded as my eyes drifted towards the perimeter of my little brother's suicidal set up. Two Kushala Daoras patrolled the perimeter waiting for his shock traps to fail. They seemed intrigued by the mad hunter's set up. His eyes must've seen the movement from the top of the cliff, signaling my arrival. I hear him shout defiantly "I'll show you cowards what it means to be the sixth No Life King, and the glory that comes with it!" My wordless scream is lost in a wave of heat as I watch my little brother swing his Bullhead hammer down for the last time, acting as a flint to create the spark which would grant him his glorious death.

Michael opens his eyes. The sun was just barely beginning to peak over the mountains to the east of the village. It had only been three years since that night, but to him it felt like a millennia ago. The ex-hunter goes to stoke the fires of the bakery and put the first batch of rolls into bake. He can hardly remember what his sword used to feel like, the only blade he'd had held since that night was a bread knife. This was his life now, a baker. He is dressed in simple villager's clothes with a baker's apron on over them. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for his right forearm, constantly bandaged from wrist to elbow hiding his mark of shame that was once his greatest pride. A"3" tattooed down his forearm, designating him as third best hunter of the No Life Kings, the rebel group that had risen to challenge the guild five years ago and ignited a war. At least it had been a three when he'd seen it last, almost three years ago. How different things were now. The smell of bread beginning to burn catches his attention; he makes a mental note to forget the nightmare at least for the time being, after all he'll have enough time to think on it when he goes to bed, he has it every night.

*Ding* The bell from the front of the bakery rang. "What can I get for you?" _Ugh, Natty Edgecombe. _The local governess, Natty could claim some distant bloodline to the royals, so her family was able to get away with calling themselves as such, and lording it over the people of the village as much as possible. "You know Raphael returns from his first hunt soon, and I want a magnificent cake to commemorate the occasion." Raphael Edgecombe, the worst example of a child buying his way into being a hunter. With his parent's financial and political influence he was coddled in his training and had a suit of azure Rathalos armor for his first hunt along with an Eagle cleaver longsword to top off the ridiculous farce being called his first hunt, oh and of course a paid escort of three experienced hunters. His parents claimed you simply couldn't be too careful; after all he was hunting a Blagonga. _Pfft, most seasoned hunters don't approach the giant ape beast as casually as Raphael does._ But none of that was Michael's concern, not anymore, he was a baker, he figured if he just kept reminding himself that one day it would stick. If the only beast he saw till the day he died was a popo then that suited him just fine. "Alright, fill out the order form and leave it on the counter, I'll send word when its done." Michael left Natty standing there dumbstruck by his boldness, most of the villagers had been accustomed to her prattling on about how her son was going to "bring home the big one." He was in no mood to pacify her ego, after taking the rolls out of the oven and replacing them with another batch he went back to pick up the abandoned order form. The village was busy bustling with activity now, vendors had set up shop, the blacksmith was hammering away and children were running and playing only as children could. Michael's gaze rested on a young girl of about sixteen or seventeen, with long black hair down to her waist, she was athletic and pretty. She was demonstrating striking techniques with a sword and shield made from monster bones to a group of young children, mostly around the ages of seven or eight. They all watched completely riveted, she had good form, a natural, too bad. Her family was dirt poor; it had taken her two years to save up enough for that Bone Kris. The village would be better off bankrolling her training, Instead of indulging the whims of a seventeen year old infant. He takes one more deep breath and heads to the back to work on Raphael's cake, and then his perfect plan to lay low till the day he dies gets turned completely upside down.

Whenever people recount tales of great battles no one ever mentions that moment where everything goes quiet, where you make that split decision to act, probably because so many people regret it. A cross between the thud of an Aptonoth dropping from a two story building, and the crunch of bones cracking was what came just before that moment of quiet. Michael ran from the back of the bakery, abandoning Raphael's cake mid-decorating. It was like a scene from a nightmare. There, in the middle of town, sitting in a crater, was a Blagonga. Standing twelve feet tall, forearms rippling with enough muscle to tear a man in two, it resembled a baboon, a very large and angry baboon. Two foot long whiskers protruded from each side of its face, well there should have been two this one had lost its left whisker, and recently by the looks of it. As a matter of fact, this Blagonga was wounded in a number of places, its tail had been severed at the base and there were multiple stains on its fur from repeated paintballs. But perhaps its greatest wound was on its left back leg where a piece of longsword was protruding from his hide at an odd angle. _Why would it be here? Blagonga never venture down the mountain, even to its base let alone the village itself._ Then it hits him, the multiple wounds, the labored breathing. _This is Raphael's Blagonga, it was too injured to hunt, so it had come to the place where the pickings were easiest: the village_. That's when people started screaming. Some fool farmer thought his scythe from the field would be enough to finish the beast but only served to get him killed. As the Blagonga stopped to enjoy its meal, Michael turned and started to walk to the back of the bakery. _This isn't my fight, I'm a baker. No one would blame me for letting this run its course and waiting till it was over, worse comes to worse no one survives and I move to a different town out in the boonies. _Then a sound that chills the bones of even the most seasoned of veterans came to his ears, the screams of children.

They were huddled behind the girl with the Bone Kris, she was shouting for them to run but they were frozen with fear, able only to scream. The girl set her face into a determined scowl, and set her feet for the standard defense formation. _Idiot, there's no way she can take a charge from the beast with no armor and that child's toy for a weapon_. Remember that moment of quiet I told you about? Well Michael got another one right here. He saw the Blagonga perk up at the sound of an easier meal than the one it already had, less than fifty yards away, he saw the girl determined to die for someone else's children, and then he felt the baker's knife in his hand, good for one strike at best, it was made for cutting through bread and pastries not hide and bone after all. Michael flips the blade in his hand, switching to the backhand style and sprints the short distance to the clearing where the girl had been practicing with her sword. She looks at him with surprise and wonder. Michael chuckles to himself; he can only imagine what he looks like. _She probably takes me for another overly-courageous villager about to die for nothing more than to fill the belly of a beast_. He re-grips the blade in his hand, going over the suicidal plan in his head one more time; _I only get one shot at this_. The corkscrew moonsault was a complex maneuver, having said that: Michael had always hated this move; it was flashy, almost useless in combat and very, very stupid. It all came down to timing, jump too early and the Blagonga would smash right through him as he fell back down, jump too late and he'd be bulldozed before he made it off the ground. But if he timed the jump and rotation of the spin just right, Michael would end up right behind his skull just as his head passed under him. Monster anatomy is similar to humans in some aspects they have a brain, a spine, and organ systems. Take any one of these out and they go down. At the base of the skull is a two inch sweet spot in between the skull and beginning vertebrae of the spine. That's what the moonsault is for, putting your blade into that two inch sweet spot. Like I said; stupid. _Breathe in, breathe out_, Michael tries to steady himself as he starts his charge. _One hundred feet_, Michael sees the beast's speed and adjusts his to compensate so they'll meet at exactly halfway. _Fifty feet, breathe, I've done this before. Twenty feet, jump._


	2. Chapter 2

Ok sorry for the long time between updates, life gets in the way hardcore sometimes. So once again if you have any criticism or opinions please make a review, even the negative ones help. Hope you enjoy

As Michael vaulted through the air he tried not to think. Over thinking the moonsault was the easiest way to screw it up. Just close your eyes and pray you don't hit bone. His baker's knife slides in like its cutting through butter. Then with the last of its strength the Blagonga goes into a death spasm, which would have been fine except for the fact that Michael was positioned right over the broken piece of longsword sticking out his left haunch. The jagged piece of metal tears clean through his side. And to make matters worse Michael tries to auto correct his balance mid-air after taking the hit and ends up landing on his ankle at a bad angle. _Why does the crunch of breaking bone always sound so loud?_

And just like that the nightmare was over. The villagers were stunned into silence, staring at the huge beast which, seconds ago had been on a bloodthirsty rampage now lay dead, and the man who had brought the creature down lay seemingly unconscious. _I could always just lay here and pretend I'm unconscious. Soon enough someone will come to their senses and carry me to the local medicine woman's hut. _ But then he realizes what he's just done, _I've killed a mid rank monster in one hit with an advanced aerial maneuver. There's no way these backwoods merchants won't spread this tale to every customer who trades with them. The Royals will come to investigate, after all someone of that level of talent would be a considerable asset to them, or a considerable threat. Damnit, this ankle is going to be a problem, even treated it'll be days before it's be a hundred percent, oh well no sense crying over spilt mega potions._ Michael sat up and did a quick survey of his surrounding, most of the villagers were still in shock and no one was really moving. "Hey you, girl." Michael called to the dark haired youth who had made her stand in defense of the children. She seemed to hesitate, "Me?" She seemed to be one of the less dumbstruck villagers, "Go into the back of my shop, there's a large chest, in it there's a bottle of what looks like thick red liquid bring it to me." She stood there with her sword held limply at her side, _Maybe I should have chosen someone else_, "NOW!" The girl snapped out of it and dashed into the back of my shop. When she returned she had the bottle in hand, people were beginning to come to their senses, _I don't have much time, soon there'll be a lot of questions, the kind that get you thrown into prison for a very long time_. "Here, what is it? Rathalos blood?" The girl asked, handing him the bottle of dark liquid. He chuckled, the superstitions some people came up with to explain the tools monster hunters used always amused Michael. "No, it's a very powerful potion, hunters call it an Ancient Potion; the recipe is very old." He uncorked the bottle and downed it in one go. Instantly Michael felt his ankle begin to itch and then pop back into place with a loud crack, the gash in his side that had only been held shut by the pressure exerted by his hand until then smoothed itself over. He rotated his ankle to make sure it had set itself correctly. He hurriedly makes his way back to his bakery, passing the medicine woman, an aged woman of her upper eighties who seemed dumbfounded that Michael was able to stand let alone walk_, She probably heard about my being injured and had come to see what aid she could offer._ "I'm fine, your services aren't required." Michael said tersely, _I don't have time to be polite, every second I stay is one second the Royals are closer to finding me._ He makes his way back to the bakery. _There's not much to pack, one Brightside to selling all of my old armor and weapons to bankroll my whole "going into hiding,"_ He's even able to fit all of his essential belongings into to one backpack. _Good, the lighter I can travel the faster I can get away from here._ Just as he was finishing his prep for sneaking out the back the sound he'd been dreading came, trumpets. _How could the Royals have come so fast? It's been less than an hour since the incident, but there's no other explanation…unless. It had to be Raphael's return, they were treating it like he was an actual Royal._ Raphael was addressing the crowd, who had gathered because of the creature's arrival, but of course Raphael would think they were there for him. "Rejoice my people; I have slain the mighty beast! My only sorrow is that the cowardly brute ran away to die of its wounds, so I am unable to show you my glorious trophy; though I assure you it was a magnificent beast. He even managed to break off a piece of my sword in his hide." Anger welled up within Michael, here Rapahel was boasting about a kill he didn't have the skill to make and it had almost cost the village its very existence. _I could leave right now and no one would know for hours, nice and quiet. That would be the smart thing to do…to bad I'm not known for doing the smart thing to do. _ He shouldered his pack and made his way to the front. Rapahel was addressing the crowd down the hill at the village's entrance, so he hadn't seen the beast's body yet. He was showing them his broken longsword as if it was some fabled blade out of a tale. "Hey _Royal Raphael, _you can still have your trophy, it seems his wounds weren't as severe as you thought. He came to the village looking to finish the fight you started, next time do us all a favor, and just pay your babysitter hunters to kill him for you, it's a better investment for the village." Some of the hunters in his escort stiffened at the last part, though none of them said anything. "You might want to rethink how you treat the villagers, Raphael, seeing as anyone of them could end your hunting career now, after all what would the guild think of such an inept hunter?" All the blood drained from his face and he began to stutter, "Of course if you're nice I'm sure your family and the village can come to an agreement." _There, now it was in the village's hands, either way it's not my problem anymore. I have to get moving; no doubt those hunters will remember my description all too well. I should have just kept on walking…._

Michael made for the tree line west of the village, _Best to stay off roads for a good month._ He had a cache of weapons and armor just past the tree line. Nothing fancy but some bare essentials for a quick getaway. As he finished strapping his Hunter's armor on, he gave it a quick appraisal, this set is pretty much crap, but it does give the advantage of a vague awareness of any large monsters in the area, Michael heard footsteps approaching from behind. "Please take me with you." It was the girl who had protected the children. "Please, I owe you, you saved my life." _Pfft _"I doubt you had any plans to hold the parents of those children indebted to you," she blushed, the holes in her logic coming to the surface; "don't hold me to standards that you aren't willing to hold yourself to." "Please, I just want…I just want to get strong enough to make a difference, to protect people. If you hadn't had been there today the village would have been decimated, and it's because there aren't enough hunters to protect small villages like ours, I want to help change that. I saw what you can do; I know that even a week or two with you as my trainer would be better than a year with anyone from the village. Please all I'm asking for is the chance to make a difference." Michael stood, silently evaluating her, while his mind flashed back to the argument he and his brother had with their mother just before setting off to become hunters.

"How can you both just think that it'll be so easy to pick up and leave and become hunters, people die doing this training!" Michael and his brother; a shorter and leaner version of himself, stand at the doorway, ready and packed to leave home for the first and last time. "We're not going to stay here and work at some dead end job, we can still make a difference!" Michael's brother was vehement on that point, making a difference, leaving this world better than how you found it. Michael however was more practical, "Do you know how much a hunter can make from a single hunt? Just one? Over a thousand zenny! That's more than all three of us combined could make here in a month! I'm tired of living here like some rat in this shit hole, come on, we're done here, thanks for the memories mom." Michael's eyes refocus and he finds himself considering something he promised himself he'd never do. "No, there's no way the training I could give you could be condensed into something you could even grasp in two weeks," she visibly wilted, and began to quietly sob. "If you agree to my training you're in it for the full ride, no quitting, that means years not weeks." She looked up, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes, "Really?" Michael nods, "Yup, but we leave now, hope you're ready." She looks back towards the village hesitating. "Lemme guess, you didn't tell your family?" She shakes her head. "Go say your goodbyes, my foot still could use some time to rest up, but no longer than half an hour." "Thank you Thank You Thank You!" Before he could take a step back to avoid it she had him in a quick hug that barely lasted more than a second. _Damn, the girl's fast. "_If you're longer than half an hour I'm leaving without you!" he called after her. _Hmm If I have half an hour, maybe I should pay my last respects to the Edgecombs hehe. _

_**35 minutes later**_

As the newly apprenticed hunter ran back the clearing, she was heartbroken to find it empty. She checked the sun's position and slumped to the ground, _I'm late, five minutes late…I guess he did keep his word._ "What's with the long face?" She spun around to see Michael walking up with a large parcel over his shoulder. "I uh…" "Oh, you thought I'd been a stickler on the time, well normally I am, but the Edgecombs took longer than I expected to convince to part with my fee." "Your fee?" "Yea for finishing Raphael's hunt, or rather for keeping quiet about finishing it haha, here catch." He tossed the parcel lightly, well at least it looked light, when she caught it she grunted from the effort. "Go beyond the tree line and put that on, and be quick about it, I'd hoped to be gone over an hour ago." He turned around, "I won't peek I promise." She stood there, not understanding what he meant until she peeked inside the parcel. It was an armor set, leather from the looks of it, and there was something hard at the bottom of the sack but she couldn't see what it was since the armor set was in the way. "tick tock little one, we don't have all day." Suddenly it clicked, "oh, sorry sir" and with that she dashed off into the tree line to change into her new armor. _Sir? Hmm there's no way I'm gonna have someone calling me sir all the time, I'm barely 23._ "WHAT! NO WAY! REALLY?" Michael raised an eyebrow in confusion. The girl broke through the tree line clad in her new armor waving a metal sword and shield around in excitement. "Is this really mine?" "Well I can't have my apprentice running around with rubbish for a weapon, what would people think?" Michael asked with a smirk. "Now let's get moving- wait a second I just realized something, I don't even know your name, what is it?" She straightened with pride "My name is Sarah Farstrider, sir." "Well it is nice to meet you Sarah, and no more sir, you call me by my name and I'll do the same for you, agreed?" She looked down, "well ok…but no one knows your name, we only know you by 'The Baker,' sorry." Michael threw back his head and laughed, _I guess I have been pretty secretive about that fact. "_My name is Michael Draagen, though if anyone asks just give the first name, most people don't go giving out their last names unless asked to, and mine…well mine carries some history with it." "Yes si- yes Michael." "Good then let's get moving we have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall." Michael started walking towards the tree line, "Wait aren't we going to use the road?" Sarah asked. "Nope, I'll explain later but for now I need to get as far away from here as possible, and stay off the grid for a while, think you can handle that?" She stopped and chewed her lip in hesitation. _This is what I wanted, a trainer who knows what he's doing, so what if I have to rough it for a while. _"Yup, I'm ready." "Well then let's get moving." And with that they set off into the woods.


End file.
